A fire authority chairman has described a female MP as a "dizzy airhead" for calling out the fire brigade when her central heating boiler began making strange noises.

By John Bingham

2:04PM GMT 12 Dec 2008

Brian Coleman, the Conservative chairman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, laughed off accusations that his attack on Lynne Featherstone was sexist - by remarking that a man was unlikely to have acted in the same way.

Liberal Democrat MP Lynne Featherstone, the new equalities minister.

Mr Coleman, a Tory member of the London Assembly, accused the Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood Green in north London of wasting valuable resources and demanded that she pay for the call out.

He went on to liken the politician to those who call out the emergency services to rescue cats stuck in trees.

The row broke out after Miss Featherstone wrote an entry on her internet blog thanking local firemen for coming to her aid last month when the boiler in her basement began making an unexpected banging sound, causing the floor to vibrate.

She told how she dialled 999 and ran out of the house, accompanied by her two daughters and dog, fearing that there would be an explosion.

But the sound stopped when the heating and water supply were switched off.

It eventually transpired that it been caused by an airlock in the boiler which was rectified the following day.

Mr Coleman accused the MP of using the fire brigade as her personal heating engineers.

"You don't call the fire brigade - you switch your boiler off and call a plumber the next day," he said.

"It costs £250 per hour for a call out and I look forward to receiving a cheque from Lynne Featherstone.

"She has shown herself to be completely dizzy... she advertised the fact she is dizzy on her blog, which is even more stupid.

"Airheads and airlocks are obviously not unrelated. She can't tell the difference between an airlock and a major catastrophe."

Miss Featherstone said she was furious at Mr Coleman's remarks and said he should "consider his position".

Dismissing his comments as "sexist" she accused Mr Coleman of undermining the fire brigade's message - that in the event of a possible emergency people should immediately get out and dial 999 - for a cheap political point.

"It was entirely the right thing to do and for Brian Coleman to have a pop at me, whether for a joke or for politics, is totally inappropriate," she said.

"I will be writing to the Commissioner of the fire brigade."

She added: "He should be ashamed of himself, I may be a politician but I'm just as entitled as anyone else to look out for my and my daughters' safety."

Undeterred, Mr Coleman responded to the accusation of sexism by saying: "Would a man have called the fire brigade? I don't know."

Openly conceding that his comments were "political", he went on: "If there is a fire call 999 and if there is a cat stuck up a tree or you have got an airlock in your boiler don't call the fire brigade, we are spending millions of pounds a year on unnecessary calls."

Mr Coleman was appointed to the post by the London Mayor, Boris Johnson, earlier this year.

As well as overseeing the work of the London Fire Brigade he is responsible for preparing the capital for disasters or terrorist attacks.